CD Reviews

Before the Legend

Caesar | college | 10/26/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Robert Johnson is the most recognized and celebrated figure of the blues genre. His incomparable talent directly influenced later legends like Muddy Waters and Elmore James; and later, rock n' roll's most famous artists, such as Eric Clapton, Led Zepplin, the Rolling Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Aerosmith...the list goes on and on.But mainstream music accredits him as the inventor of the sound. This is simply not true. While he was probably unsurpassed in talent, Johnson himself aquired the style, melodies, guitar work, and in some cases, lyrics, from his contemporaries. This collection offers just of few of the songs that were later reworked into Johnson's masterpieces.But this album has much more value beyond the historical significance; the music is phenomenal. We have the brilliant songwriting ingenuity of Skip James, the ferocity of Son House's moans and bottleneck slaps, the soft sincerity of Lonnie Johnson's voice, the tongue-in-cheek humor of Johnny Temple, the jagged growls of Charley Patton, and the weaving melodies of the Mississippi Sheiks.I cannot stress enough that each song is outstanding--you will not have the urge to skip any track; your money will be well spent. Furthermore, the folks at Yazoo have done an excellent job of digitally cleaning out the hisses and pops from these old 78 vinyl recordings. Sure, they sound a bit muffled and there is a scratch here and there, but overall, these tracks are very listenable (with one exception being Son House's "Preachin' the Blues"--only one copy is known to exist, and it's in rather bad shape. Although the sound quality is poor, Yazoo has wisely included it in this collection as it is a powerful and astounding song).Most Delta Blues aficionados will already have the complete works of all the artists on this collection. But even if you are a casual blues fan, you are undoubtedly a fan of Robert Johnson, and this disc will be a vital part of your collection. You will hear the bases for Johnson's most famous songs ("Cross Road Blues", "Come On In My Kitchen", "Hellhound On My Trail", "Love In Vain", "Sweet Home Chicago", "They're Red Hot", "Kindhearted Woman Blues"--they're all here, folks!), and you will realize the "King of the Delta Blues Singers" is actually sharing his crown."

Of great historical importance!

Caesar | 07/08/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Critics worship Johnson far too much at the expense of other equally talented Delta bluesman (I had a conversation about this in a bar one night with August Wilson--he agreed completely). This album shows how much Johnson learned, borrowed or stole from his contemporaries. The Skip James contributions are classics."

Simply a fantastic collection.

James Patrick Page | 05/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This fascinating and rewarding CD is a way to open your ears to some of the artists who 'influenced' Robert Johnson. But to assume these performers are merely an adjunct to Johnson is entirely wrong; each artist was exceptionally gifted and deserves recognition entirely in their own right. Of course, Son House, Charlie Patton, and Skip James are instantly recognisable names to the casual 'blues' listener - but Casey Bill Weldon, Lonnie Johnson and Kokomo Arnold also deserve the same adulation. You get them all on this CD, with a mix of classic songs (probably selected to be somewhat representative of an artist's work in general) and more esoteric selections that suggest real attention to nuance and variation by the producers.

Whilst most listeners will arrive at this CD through Robert Johnson, and will enjoy identifying elements of the songs he incorporated (or blatantly imitated) within his body of work, the album easily stands alone and, once appropriately digested, will provide a number of threads for further listening exploration.

Some high points are Son House's 'My Black Mama' and 'Preachin' The Blues, Pt. 1' (exceptional recordings that are often overlooked in favour of the sonic fidelity of House's 1960s recordings), Patton's 'Revenue Man Blues' (a variation musically upon his 'High Sheriff Blues', but by no means a lesser song), and Skip James' entirely off the wall '22-20 Blues'. However, every track on this album deserves special attention.

If you're sitting there wondering if you should purchase this album - don't. It is a fantastic bridge to some incredible artists who have been somewhat shadowed by the Johnson myth. Buy this CD it and you'll be doing these artists - and yourself - a real favour."

THOUGHT ROBERT JOHNSON WAS THE GENIUS? THINK AGAIN.

mikomiko miko | Oakville, Ontario, Canada | 03/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album totally shows where Robert Johnson (blues guitarist/singer extroardinaire) created his own style. Using a little bit of everyone on this album's style, Robert put it all together and created a guitar wizard and an excellent composer. This album also emphasizes the fact that Robert even stole lyrics, as did/do most blues musicians. Here you will hear the similarity of Robert's lyrics, where he learned the ongoing base-line trick, slapping the guitar, singing the way he did, his complicated slide licks , and his interesting chord shapes. The songs on the album are similar to these Robert Johnson songs: Devil got my Woman (Skip James) is like Hellhound on my Trail, Milk Cow Blues (Kokomo Arnold) is like Milk Cow's Calf Blues, When the sun goes down (Leroy Carr) is like Love in Vain Blues, My Black Mama (Son House) is similar to Walking Blues but greaterly shows Robert's slide licks similarity, Revenue Man Blues (Charley Patton) shows how Robert sometimes did not use a plectrum and shows Robert's famous base-line trick, Red River Blues (Henry Thomas) is like Last Fair Deal Gone Down, Roll and Tumble Blues (Hambone Willie Newbern)is like Travelling Riverside Blues and If I Had Possession over Judgement Day, Life Saver Blues (Lonnie Johnson, no relation to Robert) is like Malted Milk and Drunken Hearted Man, 22-20 Blues (Skip James) is like 32-20 Blues, Sitting on Top of the World (The Mississippi Sheiks) is like Come on in my kitchen, Preachin the Blues (Son House) is like Preaching Blues, Go Ahead Buddy (Casey Bill Weldon) is like They're Red Hot, Lead Pencil Blues (Johnnie Temple) is not only like When You Got a Good Friend, but it shows Robert's famous straight forward shuffle beat. Consider buying this FOR SURE! What would you rather do, waste your time finding possibly rare recordings of these unsuccessful artists or buy this anthology."

It sounds like the blues

Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 10/03/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Robert Johnson is generally regarded as the greatest bluesman of all time. This CD shows where he got his music from. The songs on this CD have remarkably similar melodies, and sometimes lyrics, to songs Robert Johnson later recorded. The CD booklet give technical information about the similarities, and differences, between these songs and Johnson's songs. (Most of that information went right over my head.) By the way, Johnson should not be looked down upon for copying other people's songs. That is a common practice in the blues industry. But aside from the historical importance of being influential to Robert Johnson, these performances are good in their own right. But one problem with the CD is that the sound quality is pretty bad on some of these songs. ("Preachin' The Blues" by Son House is practically unlistenable.) But if you can get past the poor sound, and you are interested in the roots of the blues, you should enjoy this CD."